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Teacher acquitted for arm lock on 5-year-old

A female preschool teacher facing charges for molesting a 5-year-old boy was acquitted on Monday by the district court in Varberg in western Sweden.

“I’m going to show you what police do to children like you,” the woman is alleged to have said as she twisted the boy’s arm up behind his back during a confrontation in January of this year.

The boy’s mother happened to come by and saw what happened while the rest of the boy’s class sat and ate in another room.

The teacher was charged with molestation and although she admitted grabbing the boy and pushing his face down against a desk, she denied that her actions amounted to a criminal act.

The teacher explained in her testimony before the court that she felt forced to restrain the 5-year-old to get him to calm down.

The boy had thrown things around the room, including at the preschool teacher, and said that he was also going to start throwing things at a window.

The teacher said that on a different occasion she had attempted to hold the boy on her knee, but that the approach hadn’t worked.

The district court wrote in its ruling that it can be seen as a “justified measure” to take hold of a 5-year-old and attempt to calm him down, even if one can question the appropriateness of the method employed by the woman in the case.

However, continued the court, the teacher didn’t intentionally behave recklessly toward the 5-year-old.

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SEXISM

Bild editor steps down over allegations of affairs with employees

The editor-in-chief of German newspaper Bild is stepping down temporarily while he is investigated over several complaints made by women, publisher Axel Springer group said on Saturday.

Bild editor steps down over allegations of affairs with employees
Bild editor Julian Reichelt at the Bild newspaper's 'Sommerfest' party in 2018. Photo: picture alliance / Jörg Carstensen/dpa | Jörg Carstensen

Julian Reichelt had “asked the board of directors to be temporarily relieved of his duties until the allegations have been clarified”, the group said in a statement. The complaints prompted the company to launch an internal investigation led by lawyers.

Reichelt is suspected of having promoted interns with whom he had affairs and then sidelining or firing them, the Spiegel newspaper reported. Members of staff came forward months ago but Spiegel said management had been slow to look into the allegations.

However, the publisher defended itself in its statement: “As a matter of  principle Axel Springer always has to distinguish between rumors, indications and clear evidence.”

It said the firm would take action when there was clear evidence, adding: “Currently, there is no such clear evidence. Prejudgments based on rumors are unacceptable for the Axel Springer corporate culture.”

Reichelt denies the claims, the group said, adding that the investigation was ongoing.

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